Al-Albani Unveiled - An Exposition of His Errors and other important issuesCompiled by Sayf ad-Din Ahmed ibn Muhammad

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

PREFACE

All praise be to Allahu Ta'ala. Peace and blessings be on His final Messenger, Sayyidina Muhammad. Auspicious salutations be on his pure Ahl al-Bayt (people of the Prophet's House) and on all his just and devoted Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all); and last but not least praise be upon the glorious pious predecessors (Salaf as-Salihin) and their successors who are the Ahl-as-Sunnah wa'l Jama'ah (People of the Sunnah and Community) of the four existing schools of Sacred Law (Fiqh).

O you who believe! What you are about to read is of dire importance to the believer who accepts the authority of the Noble Hadith, second only to the Holy Qur'an al-Karim. I here present to the open minded believer an exposition of the mistakes and contradictions of probably the foremost Hadith Shaykh of the 'Salafiyya' sect, by the name of Shaykh Muhammad Nasiruddeen al-Albani. I was asked by some brothers on the status and rank of al-Albani, and fearing the declaration of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him):

"He who is asked something he knows and conceals it will have a bridle of fire put on him on the Day of Resurrection" (Sunan Abu Dawood, 3/3650, English ed'n);

I decided to compile this short work. Let me stress at the outset, this work was primarily compiled to correct some notions held by al-Albani and secondarily the "Salafi" sect; hence the last part of this work has been entitled: "and Other Important issues."

This short piece of work has been edited and abridged from the four volume set which emphatically and clearly outlines al-Albani's mistakes, contradictions, slanders and even lies in the honourable and sacred Islamic Science of Hadith (Uloom al Hadith), by the well known scholar, Al-Shaykh Hasan ibn Ali al-Saqqaf (may Allah reward him for his effort) of Amman, Jordan; from his work entitled: "Tanaqadat al-Albani al-Wadihat" (The Clear Contradictions of al-Albani).

Shaykh Saqqaf is a contemporary Shafi'i scholar of Hadith and Fiqh. His Shaykh's include Hashim Majdhub of Damascus in Shafi'i Fiqh, Muti' Hammami in estate division, Muhammad Hulayyil of Amman in Arabic Grammar, and he has been given written authorization (Ijaza) in the field of Hadith from one of the greatest Hadith scholars of our time - Shaykh Abdullah Muhammad al-Ghimari (may the Mercy of Allah be upon him) of Tangiers, Morocco [born 1910 C.E; died Feb. 1413/1993 C.E]; an ex-Professor of Hadith at Al-Azhar University, author of nearly 150 works, his late brother: Ahmad ibn Muhammad (Allah's mercy be upon him) was a great Hafiz of Hadith, (see later for the definition of Hafiz of Hadith).

Shaykh Ghimari has declared in one of his published Fatwa's that al-Albani is an innovator (mubtadi) in Islam, (al-Albani has criticised Shaykh Ghimari's classifications of Hadith in some of his works; but then contradicted himself in others - see the quotes from Shaykh Saqqaf later). Shaykh Saqqaf presently teaches a circle of students in Amman and has published over forty five books and treatises on Hadith, tenets of faith (Aqeeda), Fiqh and heresiology.

So as to enlighten the reader who is unaware of al-Albani's status, the following is a short biography as given in the inside back cover of the English translation of al-Albani's booklet by the title 'Adaab uz Zufaaf' (The Etiquettes of Marriage and Wedding) as published by his followers in England (viz.: "Jami'at Ihyaa Minhaj al Sunnah") :-

• "Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen Al-Albani was born in the city of Ashkodera, capital of Albania in 1914 CE. While he was young his parents migrated with him to Damascus, Syria. From an early age he became fascinated by the science of Hadith and thereafter spent his time devoted to seeking knowledge. In later life he was given Professorship of Hadith at the Islamic University of Madinah. He is well known to students and scholars for his knowledge and writings. He has many well known students and has visited places through out the Middle East and Europe. He was forced to migrate from Syria to Jordan. He has been of enormous service to the Prophetic Hadith, taking great pains to check and sort out the authentic from the weak and fabricated narrations. He has produced many pamphlets and books, some of them running into many volumes - on topics of great importance to the Muslims - and has fully checked many of the famous books of Hadith - the Sunan of Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, An-Nasai and Ibn Majah, along with Suyooti's huge "Jami-us-Sagheer" and "Mishkat-ul Masabih". He is the foremost scholar of Hadith and related sciences of this age."

It is this last statement which is highly far-fetched, and it is the predominantly imaginary belief of his misguided followers in certain parts of the world. Since only Allah knows who is the "foremost scholar of Hadith and related sciences of this age." I say this because there are others who may well be the 'foremost scholar'. One thing that may be noticed from the above biography, is that al-Albani does not seem to have been given any authorization (ijaza) in Hadith from any recognised scholar of Hadith. I have read other biographies and asked some of his supporters in England to give me the name of al-Albani's Hadith Shaykh; but to no avail. It seems that al-Albani "taught" himself the science of Hadith by spending many hours in the famous library of Damascus - al-Maktabatuz Zahiriyyah. In the biography written in the preface of the English edition of his work - "Sifah salah an-Nabee", it was also stated that he was: "influenced by articles in 'al-Manaar' magazine." The last named magazine was edited by the notorious freemason - Muhammad Rashid Ridah (d.1935 CE)!

Al-Albani has not made a handful of forgivable errors, but rather well over 1200, which are only forgivable if he himself admits and corrects his mistakes by repenting in front of the People of Knowledge, as well as the sincere believers who may have been relying on his 'classifications of Hadith'. The selected contradictions from "Tanaqadat al-Albani al-Wadihat" have been derived for sake of brevity from volume's one and two only, and whenever the symbol * is indicated, this corresponds to the original reference to the Arabic edition. The reader should also remember that whenever anything appears in brackets, then these are usually my words and not that of Shaykh Saqqaf. It should also be said that Volume 1 of the original contains 250 ahadith, in which al-Albani has said Sahih (an authentic Hadith) in one of his books and then contradicted himself by saying Daeef (a weak Hadith) in another of his books, or similar mistakes and contradictions.

Volume 2 contains 652 Ahadith of the same description as the above, or similar contradictions in individual rijal (biography of a Hadith narrator) of the Sanad (the chain of transmission of a specific Hadith) of the Hadiths in question. In some instances (e.g. Vol.2, pp. 63-64), Shaykh Saqqaf shows how a Hadith narrator is 'trustworthy' when al-Albani wants to use a Hadith to prove something, but becomes 'untrustworthy' when in a Hadith used by the person al-Albani is arguing against; an extremely embarrassing mistake for anyone of any scholarly integrity. These books by Shaykh Saqqaf have already done much to pull the rug from under 'Salafiyyism' in Jordan and even in 'Saudi' Arabia, where the first volume alone has seen no less than SIX reprints in a single year alone! These books are extremely hot property that any 'Salafi' (or anti-Salafi) who reads Arabic will want to buy. I ask you, how many times does an inept student of Hadith like al-Albani have to contradict himself before he ceases to be of authority? Can you find even ten such contradictions in the works of the traditional memorizers of Hadith (Huffaz), those who had memorized at least 100,000 Ahadith with their sanad's? The great scholars like Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi, Ibn Maja, al-Nasai, Daraqutni, Hakim, Asqalani and so on . . . . Allah's mercy be upon them. The discerning believer should know that al-Albani has not in his memory anywhere near a 100,000 Ahadith in his memory, in fact as far as we know there is no one who is a Hafiz of Hadith today! If there is, we say please come forward and prove it, and only Allah knows best!

During the course of examining various Hadiths, Shaykh Saqqaf compared them to the written opinion of al-Albani. Eventually Shaykh Saqqaf began a compilation of al-Albani's mistakes. He came across contradictions, supposition, inadequate research and the blatant perversion of sayings quoted from the great scholars of Islam. He was especially worried by the fact that many students and members of the youth who do not have enough or no knowledge are simply not bothering to investigate the Hadiths classified by al-Albani, are being misled into blind ignorance; even though these very people are the one's calling staunchly and vociferously for the complete abandonment of taqleed (usually translated as "blind following" by the opponents, but in reality it is the following of qualified and verified scholarship of a Mujtahid Mutlaq [an absolutely independent scholar of the highest calibre] like the Imam's Abu Hanifah, Malik, Shafi'i, Ibn Hanbal (Allah's mercy be upon them) and the like, as well as the scholars who adhered to and promulgated a particular school of fiqh [Madhhab] for the greater part of Islam's history; taqleed in simple language is the following of one of the four existing schools of fiqh). These people seem to contradict themselves, as well as displaying hypocrisy when they go around making it a priority to attack the followers of the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i or Hanbali schools of Sacred Law; even though they themselves are practising taqleed of an individual(s)!

• "Whoever sees an evil, he must prevent it with his hand, and if he has no power for this action, then he should prevent it with his tongue, and if he cannot do this, then he should at least consider it a vice in his heart, and this is a very low level of one's Iman (faith)." [see Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Nasai - as recorded in Targheeb Wa'l-Tarheeb by Al-Hafiz Mundhiri, d. 1258 C.E; Rahimahumullah],and even more explicitly from Imam al-Darimi (Rahimahullah) who reported Ziyad Ibn Hudair (Rahimahullah) saying:

• "Umar (Allah be pleased with him) said to me: Do you know what can destroy Islam?" I said: "No." He said: "It is destroyed by the mistakes of scholars, the argument of the hypocrites about the book (of Allah), and the opinions of the misguided leaders." (see Mishkatul Masabih, 1/269, Trans. A.H. Siddiqui).

We took the liberty to forewarn and guide the many sincere believers who are turning to their faith from blundering into miscomprehension and wrong by translating selectively from Shaykh Saqqaf's books.In order to safe keep today's youth from falling into heresy, Shaykh Saqqaf has embarked upon a quest to expose such a person who considers himself to be among the great scholars of Hadith like, Imam's al-Bukhari and Muslim (Rahimahumullah), to the extent that one of his deluded followers considered him to be in the rank of the Amir al-Mu'minin fil Hadith, Shaykh al-Islam al-Hafiz Ahmad Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (the Shafi'i Imam who authored the most famous commentary of Sahih al-Bukhari and many other books, d. 852/1449 C.E; Rahimahullah).

As for Shaykh Saqqaf, the respected reader may get the impression that he has an uncompromising demeanour in some of his comments made straight after he exposes an error of al-Albani. I make no apology for his style of exposition, since many Allah fearing scholars have been uncompromising in the past when it comes to enjoining the Good and Forbidding the Evil as has been prescribed in the Qur'an and Sunnah (e.g. in the refutations against the heretical sects like the Khawarij, Mu'tazila, Shi'ah . . . . ), so long as it forewarns the general masses from accepting the falsities of the heretics and other like minded "scholars". May be Shaykh Saqqaf considers al-Albani to be an innovator, just as his late teacher - Shaykh Ghimari (Rahimahullah) considered him to be. There are many Hadith which command us to detest the Heretics. For example, Ibrahim ibn Maisara reported Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) as saying:

• "He who showed respect to an innovator he in fact aided in the demolishing of Islam." (Bayhaqi - see Mishkatul Masabih, 1/189, English ed'n).

I hope the esteemed reader will read this short piece of work with vigilance and an open mind, especially those who have been loyal readers and supporters of al-Albani's books and decrees. I sincerely hope that this work will be of great benefit to all who read it and pray that Allah accept it as a good deed done purely for His pleasure. I would also like to thank all those brothers who assisted me in the compilation of this work, especially to the brother who supplied me with Shaykh Saqqaf's books.May Allah forgive us for any shortcomings and errors. Amin.

AL-ALBANI'S WEAKENING OF SOME OF IMAM BUKHARI AND MUSLIM'S AHADITH.

Al-Albani has said in "Sharh al-Aqeedah at-Tahaweeah, pg. 27-28" (8th edition, Maktab al-Islami) by Shaykh Ibn Abi al-Izz al-Hanafi (Rahimahullah), that any Hadith coming from the Sahih collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim is Sahih, not because they were narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, but because the Ahadith are in fact correct. But he clearly contradicts himself, since he has weakened Ahadith from Bukhari and Muslim himself! Now let us consider this information in the light of elaboration :-________________________________________

SELECTED TRANSLATIONS FROM VOLUME 1

No 1: (*Pg. 10 no. 1 )Hadith: The Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) said: "Allah says I will be an opponent to 3 persons on the day of resurrection: (a) One who makes a covenant in my Name but he proves treacherous, (b) One who sells a free person (as a slave) and eats the price (c) And one who employs a laborer and gets the full work done by him, but doesn't pay him his wages." [Bukhari no 2114-Arabic version, or see the English version 3/430 pg 236].

Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 4/111 no. 4054". Little does he know that this Hadith has been narrated by Ahmad and Bukhari from Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 2: (*Pg. 10 no. 2 )Hadith: "Sacrifice only a grown up cow unless it is difficult for you, in which case sacrifice a ram." [Muslim no. 1963-Arabic edition, or see the English version 3/4836 pg. 1086].

Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 6/64 no. 6222." Although this Hadith has been narrated by Imam's Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Nisai and Ibn Majah from Jaabir (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 3: (*Pg. 10 no. 3 )Hadith: "Amongst the worst people in Allah's sight on the Day of Judgement will be the man who makes love to his wife and she to him, and he divulges her secret." [Muslim no. 1437- Arabic edition].Al-Albani claims that this Hadith is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/197 no. 2005." Although it has been narrated by Muslim from Abi Sayyed (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 4: (*Pg. 10 no. 4 )Hadith: "If someone woke up at night (for prayers) let him begin his prayers with 2 light rak'ats." [Muslim no. 768]. Al-Albani stated that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 1/213 no. 718." Although it is narrated by Muslim and Ahmad from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 5: (*Pg. 11 no. 5 )Hadith: "You will rise with shining foreheads and shining hands and feet on the Day of Judgement by completing Wudhu properly. . . . . . . ." [Muslim no. 246].Al-Albani claims it is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/14 no. 1425." Although it has been narrated by Muslim from Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 6: (*Pg. 11 no. 6 )Hadith: "The greatest trust in the sight of Allah on the Day of Judgement is the man who doesn't divulge the secrets between him and his wife." [Muslim no's 124 and 1437]Al-Albani claims it is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/192 no. 1986." Although it has been narrated by Muslim, Ahmad and Abu Dawood from Abi Sayyed (Allah be pleased with him)!!

No 7: (*Pg. 11 no. 7 )Hadith: "If anyone READS the last ten verses of Surah al-Kahf he will be saved from the mischief of the Dajjal." [Muslim no. 809].Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/233 no. 5772." NB- The word used by Muslim is MEMORIZED and not READ as al-Albani claimed; what an awful mistake! This Hadith has been narrated by Muslim, Ahmad and Nisai from Abi Darda (Allah be pleased with him)!! (Also recorded by Imam Nawawi in "Riyadh us-Saliheen, 2/1021" of the English ed'n).

No 8: (*Pg. 11 no. 8 )Hadith: "The Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) had a horse called al-Laheef." [Bukhari, see Fath al-Bari of Hafiz Ibn Hajar 6/58 no. 2855]. But Al-Albani said that this Hadith was DAEEF in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 4/208 no. 4489." Although it has been narrated by Bukhari from Sahl ibn Sa'ad (Allah be pleased with him)!!!Shaykh Saqqaf said: "This is only anger from anguish, little from a lot and if it wasn't for the fear of lengthening and boring the reader, I would have mentioned many other examples from al-Albani's books whilst reading them. Imagine what I would have found if I had traced everything he wrote?"

AL-ALBANI'S INADEQUACY IN RESEARCH (* Vol. 1 pg. 20)

Shaykh Saqqaf said: "The strange and amazing thing is that Shaykh al-Albani misquoted many great Hadith scholars and disregards them by his lack of knowledge, either directly or indirectly! He crowns himself as an unbeatable source and even tries to imitate the great scholars by using such terms like "Lam aqif ala sanadih", which means "I could not find the chain of narration", or using similar phrases! He also accuses some of the best memorizers of Hadith for lack of attention, even though he is the one best described by that!" Now for some examples to prove our point:

No 9 : (* Pg. 20 no. 1 )Al-Albani said in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 6/251 no. 1847" (in connection to a narration from Ali): "I could not find the sanad."Shaykh Saqqaf said: "Ridiculous! If this al-Albani was any scholar of Islam, then he would have known that this Hadith can be found in "Sunan al-Bayhaqi, 7/121" :- Narrated by Abu Sayyed ibn Abi Amarah, who said that Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Yaqoob who said to us that Ahmad ibn Abdal Hamid said that Abu Usama from Sufyan from Salma ibn Kahil from Mu'awiya ibn Soayd who said, 'I found this in my fathers book from Ali (Allah be pleased with him).'"

No 10 : (* Pg. 21 no. 2 )Al-Albani said in 'Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/283': Hadith of Ibn Umar 'Kisses are usury,' I could not find the sanad."Shaykh Saqqaf said: "This is outrageously wrong for surely this is mentioned in 'Fatawa al-Shaykh ibn Taymiyya al-Misriyah (3/295)': 'Harb said Obaidullah ibn Mu'az said to us, my father said to me that Soayd from Jiballa who heard Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with him) as saying: Kisses are usury.' And these narrators are all authentic according to Ibn Taymiyya!"

No 11 : (* Pg. 21 no. 3 )Hadith of Ibn Masood (Allah be pleased with him): "The Qur'an was sent down in 7 dialects. Everyone of its verses has an explicit and implicit meaning and every interdiction is clearly defined." Al-Albani stated in his checking of "Mishkat ul-Masabih, 1/80 no. 238" that the author of Mishkat concluded many Ahadith with the words "Narrated in Sharh us-Sunnah," but when he examined the chapter on Ilm and in Fadail al-Qur'an he could not find it!

Shaykh Saqqaf said: "The great scholar has spoken! Wrongly as usual. I wish to say to this fraud that if he is seriously interested in finding this Hadith we suggest he looks in the chapter entitled 'Al-Khusama fi al-Qur'an' from Sharh-us-Sunnah (1/262), and narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (no. 74), Abu Ya'ala in his Musnad (no.5403), Tahawi in Sharh al-Mushkil al-Athar (4/172), Bazzar (3/90 Kashf al-Asrar) and Haythami has mentioned it in Majmoo'a al-Zawaid (7/152) and he has ascribed it to Bazzar, Abu Ya'ala and Tabarani in al-Awsat who said that the narrators are trustworthy."

No 12 : (* Pg. 22 no. 4 )Al-Albani stated in his "Sahihah, 1/230" while he was commenting on Hadith no. 149: "The believer is the one who does not fill his stomach. . . . The Hadith from Aisha as mentioned by Al-Mundhiri (3/237) and by Al-Hakim from Ibn Abbas, I (Albani) could not find it in Mustadrak al-Hakim after checking it in his 'Thoughts' section."Shaykh Saqqaf said: "Please don't encourage the public to fall into the void of ignorance which you have tumbled into! If you check Mustadrak al-Hakim (2/12) you will find it! This proves that you are unskilled at using book indexes and the memorization of Hadith!"

No 13 : (* Pg. 23 )Another ridiculous assumption is made by al-Albani in his "Sahihah, 2/476" where he claims that the Hadith: "Abu Bakr is from me, holding the position of (my) hearing" is not in the book 'Hilya'.We suggest you look in the book "Hilya , 4/73!"

No 14 : (*Pg. 23 no. 5 )Al-Albani said in his "Sahihah, 1/638 no. 365, 4th edition": "Yahya ibn Malik has been ignored by the 6 main scholars of Hadith, for he was not mentioned in the books of Tahdhib, Taqreeb or Tadhhib."Shaykh Saqqaf: "That is what you say! It is not like that, for surely he is mentioned in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib of Hafiz ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (12/19 Dar al-Fikr edition) by the nickname Abu Ayoob al-Maraagi!!So beware!

Al-Albani said in "Silsilah al-Daeefa, 3/492", after referring this Hadith to Imam Ahmad (2/295) and others: "I say this is a weak sanad, Daraqutni has said 'Qatada from Abu Maymoona from Abu Hurayra: Unknown, and it is to be discarded.'" Al-Albani then said on the same page: "Notice, a slapdash has happened with Suyuti and Munawi when they came across this Hadith, and I have also shown in a previous reference, no. 571, that al-Ghimari was also wrong for mentioning it in al-Kanz."

But in reality it is al-Albani who has become slapdashed, because he has made a big contradiction by using this same sanad in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/238" where he says, "Classified by Ahmad (2/295), al-Hakim . . . from Qatada from Abu Maymoona, and he is trusted as in the book 'al-Taqreeb', and Hakim said: 'A Sahih sanad', and al-Dhahabi agreed with Hakim!So, by Allah glance at this mistake! Who do you think is wrong, the Muhaddith al-Ghimari (also Suyuti and Munawi) or al-Albani?

No 16 : (* Pg. 27 no. 3 )Al-Albani wanted to weaken a Hadith which allowed women to wear golden jewellery, and in the sanad for that Hadith there is Muhammad ibn Imara. Al-Albani claimed that Abu Haatim said that this narrator was: "Not that strong," see the book "Hayat al-Albani wa-Atharu. . . part 1, pg. 207."The truth is that Abu Haatim al-Razi said in the book 'al-Jarh wa-Taadeel, 8/45': "A good narrator but not that strong. . ." So note that al-Albani has removed the phrase "A good narrator !"

NB-(al-Albani has made many of the Hadith which forbid Gold to women to be Sahih, in fact other scholars have declared these Hadith to be daeef and abrogated by other Sahih Hadith which allow the wearing of gold by women. One of the well known Shaykh's of the "Salafiyya" - Yusuf al-Qardawi said in his book: 'Islamic awakening between rejection and extremism, pg. 85: "In our own times, Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani has come out with an opinion, different from the consensus on permitting women to adorn themselves with gold, which has been accepted by all madhahib for the last fourteen centuries. He not only believes that the isnad of these Ahadith is authentic, but that they have not been revoked. So, he believes, the Ahadith prohibit gold rings and earrings."

So who is the one who violates the ijma of the Ummah with his extreme opinions?!)

No 17 : (* Pg. 37 no. 1 )Hadith: Mahmood ibn Lubayd said, "Allah's Messenger (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) was informed about a man who had divorced his wife 3 times (in one sitting), so he stood up angrily and said: 'Is he playing with Allah's book whilst I am still amongst you?' Which made a man stand up and say, 'O Allah's Messenger, shall I not kill him?'" (al-Nisai).Al-Albani declared this Hadith to be Daeef in his checking of "Mishkat al-Masabih, 2/981, 3rd edition, Beirut, 1405 A.H; Maktab al-Islami", where he says: "This man (the narrator) is reliable, but the isnad is broken or incomplete for he did not hear it directly from his father."Al-Albani then contradicts himself in the book "Ghayatul Maram Takhreej Ahadith al-Halal wal Haram, no. 261, pg. 164, 3rd Edn, Maktab al-Islami, 1405 A.H"; by saying it is SAHIH!!!

No 18 : (* Pg. 37 no. 2)Hadith: "If one of you was sleeping under the sun, and the shadow covering him shrank, and part of him was in the shadow and the other part of him was in the sun, he should rise up." Al-Albani declared this Hadith to be SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami al-Sagheer wa Ziyadatuh (1/266/761)", but then contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkat ul-Masabih, 3/1337 no. 4725, 3rd Ed" and he has referred it to the Sunan of Abu Dawood!"

No 19 : (* Pg. 38 no. 3 )Hadith: "The Friday prayer is obligatory on every Muslim." Al-Albani rated this Hadith to be DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkat al-Masabih, 1/434", and said: "Its narrators are reliable but it is discontinuous as is indicated by Abu Dawood". He then contradicts himself in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/54 no. 592", and says it is SAHIH!!!So beware o wise men!

No 20 : (* Pg. 38 no. 4 )Al-Albani has made another contradiction. He has trusted Al-Muharrar ibn Abu Hurayra in one place and then weakened him in another. Al-Albani certifies in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 4/301" that Muharrar is a trustee with Allah's help, and Hafiz (Ibn Hajar) saying about him "accepted", is not accepted, and therefore the sanad is Sahih.

He then contradicts himself in "Sahihah 4/156" where he makes the sanad DAEEF by saying: "The narrators in the sanad are all Bukhari's (i.e.; used by Imam al-Bukhari) men, except for al-Muharrar who is one of the men of Nisai and Ibn Majah only. He was not trusted accept by Ibn Hibban, and that's why al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar did not trust him, Instead he only said 'accepted!'"So beware of this fraud!

No 21 : (* Pg. 39 no. 5 )Hadith: Abdallah ibn Amr (Allah be pleased with him): "The Friday prayer is incumbent on whoever heard the call" (Abu Dawood). Al-Albani stated that this Hadith was HASAN in "Irwa al-Ghalil 3/58", he then contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in "Mishkatul Masabih 1/434 no 1375"!!!

No 22 : (* Pg. 39 no. 6 )Hadith: Anas ibn Malik (Allah be pleased with him) said that the Prophet (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) used to say : "Do not be hard on yourself, otherwise Allah will be hard on you. When a people were hard on themselves, then Allah was hard on them." (Abu Dawood)Al-Albani stated that this Hadith was DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkat, 1/64", but he then contradicts himself by saying that this Hadith is HASAN in "Ghayatul Maram, pg. 141"!!

No 23: (* Pg. 40 no. 7 )Hadith of Sayyida Aisha (Allah be pleased with her): "Whoever tells you that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to urinate while standing, do not believe him. He never urinated unless he was sitting." (Ahmad, Nisai and Tirmidhi )

Al-Albani said that this sanad was DAEEF in "Mishkat 1/117." He then contradicts himself by saying it is SAHIH in "Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah 1/345 no. 201"!!!So take a glance dear reader!

No 24 : (* Pg. 40 no. 8 )Hadith "There are three which the angels will never approach: The corpse of a disbeliever, a man who wears ladies perfume, and one who has had sex until he performs ablution" (Abu Dawood).Al-Albani corrected this Hadith in "Sahih al-Jami al-Sagheer wa Ziyadatuh, 3/71 no. 3056" by saying it was HASAN in the checking of "Al-Targhib 1/91" [Also said to be hasan in the English translation of 'The Etiquettes of Marriage and Wedding, pg. 11]. He then makes an obvious contradiction by saying that the same Hadith was DAEEF in his checking of "Mishkatul-Masabih, 1/144 no. 464" and says that the narrators are trustworthy but the chain is broken between al-hasan al-Basri and Ammar (Allah be pleased with him) as al-Mundhiri had said in al-Targhib (1/91)!!

No 25 : (* Pg. 42 no. 10 )It reached Malik (Rahimahullah) that Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) used to shorten his prayer, in distances such as between Makkah and Ta'if or between Makkah and Usfan or between Makkah and Jeddah. . . .Al-Albani has weakened it in "Mishkat, 1/426 no. 1351", and then contradicts himself by saying it is SAHIH in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/14"!!

No 26 : (* Pg. 43 no. 12 )Hadith: "Leave the Ethiopians as long as they leave you, because no one takes out the treasure of the Ka'ba except the one with the two weak legs from Ethiopia." Al-Albani has weakened this Hadith in his checking of "Mishkat 3/1495 no. 5429" by saying: "The sanad is DAEEF." But then he contradicts himself as is his habit, by correcting it in "Sahihah, 2/415 no. 772."

An example of al-Albani praising someone in one place and then disparaging him in another place in his books

No 27 : (* Pg. 32 )He praises Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami in the book 'Sahih al Targhib wa Tarhib, page 63', where he says: "I want you to know one of the things that encouraged me to. . . . which has been commented by the famous and respected scholar Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami" . . . . And he also said on the same page, "And what made me more anxious for it, is that its checker, the respected Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami has announced. . . ."

Al-Albani thus praises Shaykh al-Azami in the above mentioned book; but then makes a contradiction in the introduction to 'Adaab uz Zufaaf (The Etiquettes of Marriage and Wedding), new edition page 8', where he said: "Al-Ansari has used in the end of his letter, one of the enemies of the Sunnah, Hadith and Tawhid, who is famous for that, is Shaykh Habib al-Rahman al-Azami. . . . . For his cowardliness and lack of scholarly deduction. . . . ."

NB - (The above quotation from Adaab uz Zufaaf is not found in the English translation by his supporters, which shows that they deliberately avoided translating certain parts of the whole work).So have a glance at this!

SELECTED TRANSLATIONS FROM VOLUME 2

No 28 : (* Pg. 143 no. 1 )Hadith of Abi Barza (Allah be pleased with him): "By Allah, you will not find a man more just than me" (Sunan al-Nisai, 7/120 no. 4103).Al-Albani said that this Hadith was SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 6/105 no. 6978", and then he astonishingly contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in "Daeef Sunan al-Nisai, pg. 164 no. 287."So beware of this mess!

No 29 : (* Pg. 144 no. 2 )Hadith of Harmala ibn Amru al-Aslami from his Uncle: "Throw pebbles at the Jimar by putting the extremity of the thumb on the fore-finger." (Sahih Ibn Khuzaima, 4/276-277 no. 2874)Al-Albani acknowledged its weakness in "Sahih Ibn Khuzaima" by saying that the sanad was DAEEF, but then contradicts himself by saying it is SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 1/312 no. 923!"

No 30 : (* Pg. 144 no. 3 )Hadith of Sayyidina Jabir ibn Abdullah (Allah be pleased with him): "The Prophet (Peace be upon him) was asked about the sexually defiled [junubi]. . . can he eat, or sleep. . . He said :'Yes, when this person makes wudhu.'" (Ibn Khuzaima no. 217 and Ibn Majah no. 592).Al-Albani has admitted its weakness in his comments on "Ibn Khuzaima, 1/108 no. 217", but then contradicts himself by correcting the above Hadith in "Sahih Ibn Majah, 1/96 no. 482 "!!

No 31 : (* Pg. 145 no. 4 )Hadith of Aisha (Allah be pleased with her): "A vessel as a vessel and food as food" (Nisai, 7/71 no. 3957).Al-Albani said that it was SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/13 no. 1462", but then contradicts himself in "Daeef Sunan al-Nisai, no. 263 pg. 157", by saying it is DAEEF!!!

No 32 : (* Pg. 145 no. 5 )Hadith of Anas (Allah be pleased with him): "Let each one of you ask Allah for all his needs, even for his sandal thong if it gets cut."Al-Albani said that the above Hadith was HASAN in his checking of "Mishkat, 2/696 no. 2251 and 2252", but then contradicts himself in "Daeef al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/69 no. 4947 and 4948"!!!

No 33 : (* Pg. 146 no. 6 )Hadith of Abu Dharr (Allah be pleased with him): "If you want to fast, then fast in the white shining nights of the 13th, 14th and 15th."Al-Albani declared it to be DAEEF in "Daeef al-Nisai, pg. 84" and in his comments on "Ibn Khuzaima, 3/302 no. 2127", but then contradicts himself by calling it SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 2/10 no. 1448" and also corrected it in "Sahih al-Nisai, 3/902 no. 4021"!!So what a big contradiction!NB- (Al-Albani mentioned this Hadith in 'Sahih al-Nisai' and in 'Daeef al-Nisai', which proves that he is unaware of what he has and is classifying, how inept!)

No 34 : (* Pg. 147 no. 7 )Hadith of Sayyida Maymoonah (Allah be pleased with her): "There is nobody who has taken a loan and it is in the knowledge of Allah. . . ." (Nisai, 7/315 and others).Al-Albani said in "Daeef al-Nisai, pg 190": "Sahih, except for the part al-Dunya." Then he contradicts himself in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/156", by saying that the whole Hadith is SAHIH, including the al-Dunya part. So what an amazing contradiction!

No 35 : (* Pg. 147 no. 8 )Hadith of Burayda (Allah be pleased with him): "Why do I see you wearing the jewellery of the people of hell" (Meaning the Iron ring), [Nisai, 8/172 and others. . .]. Al-Albani has said that it was SAHIH in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/153 no. 5540", but then contradicts himself by saying it is DAEEF in "Daeef al-Nisai, pg. 230"!!!

No 36 : (* Pg. 148 no. 9 )Hadith of Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him): "Whoever buys a carpet to sit on, he has 3 days to keep it or return it with a cup of dates that are not brownish in colour" (Nisai 7/254 and others).Al-Albani has weakened it with reference to the '3 days' part in "Daeef Sunan al-Nisai, pg. 186", by saying: "Correct, except for 3 days." But the 'genius' contradicts himself by correcting the Hadith and approving the '3 days' part in "Sahih al-Jami wa Ziyadatuh, 5/220 no. 5804".So wake up (al-Albani)!!

No 37 : (* Pg. 148 no. 10 )Hadith of Abu Hurayra (Allah be pleased with him): "Whoever catches a single rak'ah of the Friday prayer has caught (the whole prayer)." (Nisai 3/112, Ibn Majah 1/356 and others). Al-Albani has weakened it in "Daeef Sunan al-Nisai, no. 78 pg. 49", where he said: "Abnormal (shadh), where Friday is mentioned." He then contradicts himself by saying SAHIH, including the Friday part in "Irwa, 3/84 no. 622 ."May Allah heal you!

AL-ALBANI AND HIS DEFAMATION AND AUTHENTICATION OF NARRATORS AT WILL!

No 38 : (* Pg 157 no 1 )KANAAN IBN ABDULLAH AN-NAHMY :- Al-Albani said in his "Sahihah, 3/481" : "Kanaan is considered hasan, for he is attested by Ibn Ma'een." Al-Albani then contradicts himself by saying, "There is weakness in Kanaan" (see "Daeefah, 4/282")!!

No 39 : (* Pg. 158 no. 2 )MAJA'A IBN AL-ZUBAIR :- Al-Albani has weakened Maja'a in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 3/242", by saying, "This is a weak sanad because Ahmad has said: 'There is nothing wrong with Maja'a', and Daraqutni has weakened him. . ."Al-Albani then made a contradiction in his "Sahihah, 1/613" by saying: "His men (the narrators) are trusted except for Maja'a who is a good narrator of Hadith."An amazing contradiction!

No 40 : (* Pg. 158 no. 3 )UTBA IBN HAMID AL-DHABI :- Al-Albani has weakened him in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 5/237" by saying: "And this is a weak (Daeef) sanad which has three defects. . . . the second defect is the weakness of al-Dhabi, the Hafiz said: 'A truthful narrator with hallucinations'".Al-Albani then makes an obvious contradiction in "Sahihah, 2/432", where he said about a sanad which mentions Utba: "And this is a good (hasan) sanad, Utba ibn Hamid al-Dhabi is trustworthy but has hallucinations, and the rest of the narrators in the sanad are trusted." !!

No 41 : (* Pg. 159 no. 4 )HISHAM IBN SA'AD :- Al-Albani said in his "Sahihah, 1/325": "Hisham ibn Sa'ad is a good narrator of Hadith." He then contradicts himself in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 1/283" by saying: "But this Hisham has a weakness in memorizing"So what an amazement!!

No 42 : (* Pg. 160 no. 5 )UMAR IBN ALI AL-MUQADDAMI :- Al-Albani has weakened him in "Sahihah, 1/371", where he said: "He in himself is trusted but he used to be a very bad forger, which makes him undependable. . . ." Al-Albani then contradicts himself again in "Sahihah, 2/259" by accepting him and describing him as being trustworthy from a sanad which mentions Umar ibn Ali. Al-Albani says: "Classified by Hakim, who said: 'A Sahih Isnad (chain of transmission)', and al-Dhahabi went along with it, and it is as they have said."So what an amazement !!!

No 43 : (* Pg. 160 no. 6 )ALI IBN SA'EED AL-RAZI :- Al-Albani has weakened him in "Irwa, 7/13", by saying: "They have said nothing good about al-Razi." He then contradicts himself in another 'fantastic' book of his, "Sahihah, 4/25", by saying: "This is a good (hasan) sanad and the narrators are all trustworthy."So beware !!!

No 44 : (* Pg. 165 no. 13 )RISHDIN IBN SA'AD :- Al-Albani said in his "Sahihah, 3/79" : "In it (the sanad) is Rishdin ibn Sa'ad, and he has been declared trustworthy." But then he contradicts himself by declaring him to be DAEEF in "Daeefah, 4/53"; where he said: "And Rishdin ibn Sa'ad is also daeef." So beware!!

No 45 : (* Pg. 161 no. 8 )ASHAATH IBN ISHAQ IBN SA'AD :- What an amazing fellow this Shaykh!! Al-Albani!! Proves to be. He said in "Irwa al-Ghalil, 2/228": "His status is unknown, and only Ibn Hibban trusted him." But then he contradicts himself by his usual habit! Because he only transfers from books and nothing else, and he copies without knowledge; this is proven in "Sahihah, 1/450", where he said about Ashaath: "Trustworthy". So what an amazement!!!

No 46 : (* Pg. 162 no. 9 )IBRAHIM IBN HAANI :- The honourable!! The genius!! The copier!! Has made Ibrahim ibn Haani trustworthy in one place and has then made him unknown in another. Al-Albani said in 'Sahihah, 3/426': "Ibrahim ibn Haani is trustworthy", but then he contradicts himself in "Daeefah, 2/225", by saying that he is unknown and his Ahadith are refused!!

No 47 : (* Pg. 163 no. 10 )AL-IJLAA IBN ABDULLAH AL-KUFI :- Al-Albani has corrected a sanad by saying it is good in "Irwa, 8/7", with the words: "And its sanad is good, the narrators are trustworthy, except for Ibn Abdullah al-Kufi who is truthful." He then contradicts himself by weakening the sanad of a Hadith where al-Ijlaa is found and has made him the reason for declaring it DAEEF (see 'Daeefah, 4/71'); where he said: "Ijlaa ibn Abdullah has a weakness." Al-Albani then quoted Ibn al-Jawzi's (Rahimahullah) words by saying: "Al-Ijlaa did not know what he was saying ."!!!

No 48 : (* Pg. 67-69 )ABDULLAH IBN SALIH : KAATIB AL-LAYTH :- Al-Albani has criticised Al-Hafiz al-Haythami, Al-Hafiz al-Suyuti, Imam Munawi and the Muhaddith Abu'l-Fadl al-Ghimari (Allah's mercy be upon them) in his book "Silsilah al-Daeefah, 4/302", when checking a Hadith containing the narrator Abdullah ibn Salih. He says on page 300: "How could Ibn Salih be all right and his Hadith be good, even though he has got many mistakes and is of little awareness, which also made some fraudulent Hadiths enter his books, and he narrates them without knowing about them!" He has not mentioned that Abdullah ibn Salih is one of Imam al-Bukhari's men (i.e. used by al-Bukhari), because it does not suit his mode, and he does not state that Ibn Ma'een and some of the leading critics of Hadith have trusted him. Al-Albani has contradicted himself in other places in his books by making Hadiths containing Abdullah ibn Salih to be good, and here they are :-Al-Albani said in "Silsilah al-Sahihah, 3/229" : "And so the sanad is good, because Rashid ibn Sa'ad is trustworthy by agreement, and who is less than him in the men of Sahih, and there is also Abdullah ibn Salih who has said things that are unharmful with Allah's help!!" Al-Albani also said in "Sahihah, 2/406" about a sanad which contained Ibn Salih: "a good sanad in continuity." And again in "Sahihah, 4/647": "He's a proof with continuity."

NB- (Shaykh Saqqaf then continued with some important advice, this has been left untranslated for brevity but one may refer to the Arabic for further elaboration).

By the grace of Allah, this is enough from the books of Shaykh Saqqaf to convince any seeker of the truth, let alone the common folk who have little knowledge of the science of Hadith. If anyone is interested for hundreds of other similar quotes from Shaykh Saqqaf, then I suggest you write to the following address to obtain his book Tanaqadat al-Albani al-Wadihat (The Clear Contradictions of al-Albani).

THE IMAM AL-NAWAWI HOUSEPO BOX 925393AMMANJORDAN

[The cost for volume 1 is $4.00 US plus shipping and the cost for volume 2 is $7.00 plus shipping].

Allah knows best.

HERE ENDS THE QUOTATIONS FROM SHAYKH SAQQAF

This has been just 48 selected contradictions from the works of al-Albani, as derived by Shaykh Saqqaf. During the course of my own research into al-Albani's works which have been translated into English by his followers in England, I myself came across some startling errors. I was given some publications coming from his supporters in England [Jami'at Ihyaa Minhaaj al-Sunnah]; one by the title: "Daeef Ahadith of Abu Dawud's Sunan (according to Shaikh al-Albaanee, No's according to the English Translation of Professor Ahmad Hasan, published in 1411/1991 C.E.)", and the other by the title: "Daeef Ahadith of an-Nawawi's Riyaad-us-Saaliheen (according to the checking of Naasir ud-Deen Al-Albani, No's according to the English Translation of S. M. Madni Abbasi)".

I found some serious contradictions when I cross-referenced the above named publications; but I content myself by quoting just two of the contradictions, so that a round figure of fifty errors is achieved! Besides these errors there are others which will be displayed in the following pages, from the one who claims to be giving us the most 'authentic' Sunnah through his 'classifications of Ahadith'! The main aim in carrying out the latter exercise is for the benefit of those believers who do not and can not read the Arabic works of al-Albani for one, and secondly to give the opportunity to any doubting "Thomas"; who may or may not be one of al-Albani's supporters at the time of reading this short exposition, to actually go along and check the references I have quoted from (mainly in English). By doing this, Insha'Allah, all doubts about the authenticity of this exposition will be alleviated and the hearts of those who doubt may become content! Allah knows best.

No 49 :-Hadith: Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) reported the Apostle of Allah (Sall Allahu alaihi wa Aalihi wa Sallim) as saying: "Allah and His Angels bless those who are on the right flanks of the rows (in prayer)." [See Sunan Abu Dawood, 1/676 pg. 175, English ed'n and Riyadh-us-Saliheen, 2/1094 pg. 548].

When I checked the authenticity of the above Hadith by using the list "Daeef Ahadith of Abu Dawud's Sunan", it was not counted amongst the daeef ones, which means to the user of this list that the above Hadith is SAHIH (or at least HASAN) according to the checking of al-Albani!But, when I found the same Hadith in Riyadh-us-Saliheen, it was declared to be DAEEF by al-Albani. The actual words used by the author of "Daeef Ahaadith of an-Nawawi's Riyadh-us-Saliheen", was:- "Al-Albaanee brings a long note. . . . . . The wording ('upon those on the right rows') is Shaadh or Munkar - the correct narration being : ('upon those who join the rows') - see Mishkaat, no. 1096, 'Daeef Abi Daud', no.153. . ."!!!

NB- al-Imam Nawawi (Allah's mercy be upon him) said that the above Hadith has been cited on the terms of Imam Muslim by Imam Abu Dawood (see the above reference in 'Riyadh').

No 50 :-Hadith: Abu Umamah (Allah be pleased with him) says that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "A person who did not take part in jihad or failed to equip a fighter, or did not look well after the family of a fighter, would be severely punished by Allah before the day of judgement." ( Abu Dawood, 2/2497, pg. 693 and Riyadh-us- Saliheen, 2/1348, pg. 643)When I checked the authenticity of the above Hadith by using the list 'Daeef Ahadith of Abu Dawud's Sunan', it was not listed as being DAEEF, hence it has been declared to be SAHIH (or at least HASAN) in al-Albani's checking of Abu Dawood! But when I found the above Hadith in Riyadh-us-Saliheen, al-Albani declared it to be DAEEF. The actual words used by the author of 'Da'eef Ahaadith of An-Nawawi's Riyaad-us-Saaliheen' was: "Its isnad contains al-Waleed ibn Muslim-a-mudallis - and he has used 'an'anah here ('from. . .'). See 'at-Ta'leeq-ur-Ragheeb', 2/200."

NB- Imam an-Nawawi said that the above Hadith has been related with a Sahih isnad, besides that, according to Shaykh Shu'ayb al-Arnaoot's checking of the above Hadith in his edition of Riyadh-us-Saliheen, the above Hadith is not daeef (this information has been derived from another publication of 'Jami'at Ihyaa Minhaaj al- Sunnah, by the title "List of daeef ahadiths in Riyaad-as-Saliheenaccording to Shuaib Arnaoutt," but as for the lists authenticity, I say: it needs to be checked). I leave you to decide whose checking you will adopt.

Now that I have quoted you 50 mistakes of al-Albani in Hadith, I wish to delve into some rather important issues of fiqh, especially by comparing al-Albani's declarations with the views of other authors! For the record let me say at the outset, that most of the opinions that I will be quoting from al-Albani are sound and acceptable to one school of fiqh or another. But if the reader may sometimes get the feeling that I have inclined too much towards one particular school, then I have only done so to defend other sound and acceptable views which have been and are still being practised by large sections of the Ummah, indifference to the views of al-Albani and others. To all of us, more than one view should be acceptable if a Mujtahid has used his personal reasoning to extract a ruling from the sources of the Shari'ah; since this was the attitude of the glorious Salaf as-Salihin (pious predecessors of the first three generations of Islam), may Allah be pleased with them all. But as for al-Albani and the generality of his supporters they have adopted the tactless way of ejecting/criticising all other ways 'unacceptable' to their deductions from the Qur'an and Sunnah as you shall see below.

“The late hadith scholar of Damascus Shaykh Mahmud al-Rankusi similarly affirmed that Ibn Taymiyya answered questions about Ibn `Arabi without confirming them against his actual writings, and that the sharp temper of the former further complicated his attitude towards the Shaykh.

On the basis of these opinions and in the light of Ibn Taymiyya's occasional reservations and his otherwise apparently correct approach to ambiguous expressions, it seems that the misquotations of Ibn `Arabi became so numerous in Ibn Taymiyya's time that it became inconceivable to him that they were all incorrect, whereupon he treated them as facts. The errors causing these misquotations can also be inferred from the fact that since the misquotations revolved around issues of doctrine - in which misunderstandings are fraught with grave dangers - and in light of the Shaykh's complex style and obscure expressions, queries would be commonly sent to muftis concerning what some people thought they had read, without actually citing nor understanding the expressions in question.

All this could have been avoided by the due observance of faithfulness (amana) in textual citation, as the early scholars insisted with reference to hadith transmission. Yet many later scholars, beginning with Ibn Taymiyya and after him, relied on second and third-hand paraphrases and attributions, endorsing the accusations against Ibn `Arabi and even generalizing them so as to target all tasawwuf.”